Microsoft's CEO sticks to his guns and makes no apologies for Redmond's plans …

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A few weeks back Microsoft announced massive spending plans to go after competitors but didn't want to elaborate on the details. This caused analysts and investors to not only criticize them but also devalue their stock by 11%.

Ballmer reiterated that Microsoft is planning to invest in its core businesses, new markets and software as a service in the coming years... Ballmer told attendees to expect Microsoft to continue its stepped-up investment pace over the next couple of years. While its operating expenses "may moderate somewhat," Ballmer said, they still will increase for the foreseeable future.

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"To believe in the opportunities we believe in, you have to invest," Ballmer said. You need to make "big, bold bets."

In addition to clarifying the line in the sand over upcoming spending, it was also made clear that Microsoft intended to sit on its cash, which is somewhere around US$34 billion. What this means is that they aren't planning on returning any extra cash to investors any time soon. This mix makes for some unhappy people, and Ballmer's recent Wall Street tour didn't impress all:

"His entire commentary was that of a football quarterback cheering the squad but he didn't really offer any good numbers for people on Wall Street," said Joseph Rosenberg, chief investment strategist at the Loews Corporation, who said last month that Microsoft should buy back $60 billion in stock. "He didn't address the real issues."

Poor Microsoft. They return US$87 billion to shareholders over the past five years and announce plans to get aggressive and go after sea change threats and get beat up by Wall Street for their troubles. Ah, well. Big, bold bets are needed and I'm guessing "Bulldog" Ballmer is just the big, bold CEO to see things through. What say you, dear reader?